Latino Daily News

Puerto Rico to Use Old Traffic Network to Lay Fiber-Optic Cables

Puerto Rico’s government plans to use an old traffic-signal network in San Juan to lay fiber-optic cables in Santurce, a district being developed as the island’s tech center and an engine for job creation, officials said.

The Puerto Rican Telecommunications Regulatory Board, or JRTPR, officially signed an agreement Tuesday with the Transportation and Public Works Department covering the project.

The fiber-optic project is essential for Puerto Rico’s technological development, Transportation and Public Works Secretary Miguel Torres Diaz said.

The Transportation and Public Works Department will transfer the old underground San Juan traffic-signal network to the project, Torres Diaz said.

The JRTPR, in turn, will provide the technical support needed to lay fiber-optic cables in the pipes, allowing businesses and households in the area to have access to broadband service.

“Hundreds of jobs will be created and the area will benefit from the arrival of businesses,” Torres Diaz said, adding that the project should also boost real estate prices in Santurce.

San Juan’s old 17-kilometer (10.5-mile) underground traffic-signal network runs from Santurce to Rio Piedras, another of the capital’s historic districts.

About 20 tech firms have set up shop in Santurce, with the number expected to grow in the wake of the deal between the Transportation and Public Works Department and the JRTPR.